Letters to the Editor

Assalamu alaikum
Dear Editor:

We read your Islamic Bulletin
and were pleased with its clear, informative style. We hope this bulletin,
along with other Islamic activities, will help promote the Islamic movement.
Unfortunately, with hope there is also frustration and sometimes even anger
over the slow progress of the Islamic movement. Many Muslims feel that our
respective scholars are the creators of this frustration and act as obstacles
to the Islamic movement. This is caused by the fact that the majority of
Islamic scholars, who reside in California, are incompetent with the English
language. This incompetence produces a negative impact on the American Muslim
population, and the devastating results may carry on to our future generations
if nothing is done to correct this problem. A good American Muslim friend
of mine once said, "I am reluctant to come to the local masjid, because
the Imam doesn't give an English translation of his sermon, and I don't understand
what he's saying." Don't you think it's about time we understand what
our Imams are screaming about?

N. Akhtar
Stockton

Response:

Assalamu Alaikum
Dear N. Akhtar:

First of all, I would like
to thank you for writing and state that you have a very valid point. I do
believe that in order to further the Islamic movement here in the United
States, we do indeed need our Imams to speak English and to give sermons
in English. But on the other hand, we need to give our Imams credit for being
so learned (hafiz) in the Quran. It is not their fault if they happen to
be of Pakistani, Arab, and Indian descent and therefore, their knowledge
of the English language is not fluent.

It would be ideal for our
Imams to be fluent in English so that many new Americans could learn about
Islam. Since that is not always the case, however, we must work with the
current situation.

For example, here in San
Francisco, we have a large number of American Muslims who regularly attend
the Friday prayers. Since they obviously do not understand the Khutba, which
is delivered in Arabic by the Imam, we have a solution for this. There is
an English talk given by one of the knowledgeable English-speaking people
before the actual Khutba. In this way, American Muslims attending feel happy
to be a part of this program and look forward to Friday prayers where they
can pray in congregation.

One of the ways Islam was
propagated in the world was through Muslims good qualities. From the beginning
of Islam, non-Arabic speaking Muslim scholars like Abu Hanifa, Bukhari, Muslim,
etc. grew to become Muslim scholars and leaders of the whole Muslim world
in general. So hopefully history will repeat itself. We are waiting for the
day to see Americans who will have the zeal and knowledge to lead the ship
of the United States to Islam.

Please do not feel embarrassed
to explain to your Imam the need for an English talk to be included. God
willing, we will also talk to your Imam in Stockton and explain to him this
need. There are many Americans interested in Islam who are turned-off by
the illusion that Islam is for Arabs only. That is not the case. Islam is
the religion for all people of every color and nationality.

Please
start participating by sending us your letters, comments or suggestions
so that we can make 'The Islamic Bulletin' your favorite one.

Editorial
correspondence should be addressed to:

The
Editor of the Islamic Bulletin
P.O. Box 410186
San Francisco, CA 94141-0186